Just don't go voting for someone who doesn't have a chance and is there to basically f-up the elections like that whole Ralph Nader farce. Again, go with your common sense. The lesser of two evils. It's all we've got. You can fantasize about the perfect candidate, but don't let your idealism get in the way of actually accepting the fact that we've basically got two choices and you need to pick the best of those two. Nice as it is to say you were different, but it gets us nowhere.

As an Aussie, I'm too far away to make a judgement and I don't get a vote anyway. But I love to keep informed on politics and I desparately want to see someone with a brain get elected after 8 years of the Dubya Shrub.

On the democratic side it looks like there will be a titanic battle between Obama and Clinton. While philosophically I am more "democrat" than "republican" I feel no great desire to see either elected. A moderate Republican would do fine. I hear McCain won the latest primary, which was a bit of a shock to me. I thought he was a spent force. What do you US forum members think of McCain?

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I wonder should I call you but I know what you'd doYou'd say I'm putting you on But it's no joke it's doing me harm....Tell me tell me tell me come on tell me the answer

I think i prefer Barack Obama to the other runners.But i think his campaign needs a bit more back-bone instead of the constant 'change' speeches ringing out.But lets be honest,George bush is the devil on earth........they cant get much worse.

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BlueMeanie

I don't usually pay much attention to the primaries, but the Democratic race looks like being pretty interesting. Is the average American ready for a black president? I doubt it. Is the average American ready for a female president? Probably not, though I give Hilary a better chance. I think they're going to cancel each other out, which will lead to more votes for Edwards. It's his for the taking.

John Kerry has just thrown his weight behind Barack Obama today, so that might make a difference.

My friend had an interesting take on the Iowa Republican caucuses, where Fundamentalist Mike Huckabee won receiving 34% of the electorate and Mitt Romney (Latter Day Saints) finished second with 25%. At first blush this looks terrible; America is well on its way towards establishing a theocracy under the American Taliban. But perhaps the real answer is more encouraging: more and more people who used to vote Republican have simply abandoned the party. They've finally realized that these extremists do _not_ represent their views, and plan to vote Democratic this term.

I've talked to many of these converts myself. For women, the Katrina disaster was a big motivator. For some, Bush's unauthorized spying on Americans (when methods legally available were not used) was a deciding factor. The Republicans successfully appealed to their most radical base for the last few elections. But most Republicans don't hold these radical views. They want health care and a decent education and, oh, jobs would be nice. I don't think they want a holy war with the Mideast-- can anyone who considers him/herself a moderate Republican comment on this?

I really don't know. I'm living in a country that elected Bush twice, thinks reality TV is entertaining, and wants to get rich so they can treat everyone else like crap, just like the rich people are doing today. Not a healthy place. But I really do think that the majority of my fellow Americans are finally waking up to the fact that the unholy alliance between government and corporate interests is designed to shut them out of that piece of the pie that they'd give _anything_ to get, so they'd better settle for some responsible government before they find themselves taking the bus to work in our crappy excuse for a mass-transit system and wondering what the hell happened to their discretionary income.

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All you've got to do is choose love. That's how I live it now. I learned a long time ago, I can feed the birds in my garden. I can't feed them all. -- Ringo Starr, Rolling Stone magazine, May 2007<br />

From this distance all I can say is that it is a good sign that this election is generating such real interest in the voters. The higher the turnout the more credable the result, regardless of whether it goes for or against you. It's about the best you can ask for in a democracy.

Absolutely! I spent most of my efforts in the last election not supporting a specific candidate, but getting out the vote-- registering people, calling them, knocking on doors, following up on election day. I have my views, obviously, but for a representative democracy to be "representative", it ought to reflect the views of the majority-- which our government clearly does not. I've been fed up for 8 years, but other people are reaching their individual "enough" lines. I hope it's not too few or too late.

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All you've got to do is choose love. That's how I live it now. I learned a long time ago, I can feed the birds in my garden. I can't feed them all. -- Ringo Starr, Rolling Stone magazine, May 2007<br />

No-one's told me what they think of McCain yet, He seems like a really decent guy, and apparently he has strong personal links to our Aussie politicans, so that's a big thumbs up from my viewpoint. I really hope the Republicans go for a moderate candidate this time. Actually, I think they'll have to, because after 8 years of the Dubya Shrub surely the Democratic candidate will wipe the floor with any Neo-con the Republicans may nominate.

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I wonder should I call you but I know what you'd doYou'd say I'm putting you on But it's no joke it's doing me harm....Tell me tell me tell me come on tell me the answer

if i vote republican (highly unlikely) i'd go for McCain because hes actually honest...well as much as one for a politician

for democrats, which i'm going to end up voting for, i want Edwards to win, he has some interesting and actual plans. i wouldve voted for richardson if he had a shot and didnt drop out. Obama has the charisma and can talk the talk, and hillary is just hillary.